New Gears of War 2 “Last Day” Trailer’s A Winner, But Does It Pass The Girlfriend Test?
There’s a new Gears 2 TV spot/trailer that hit today – it’s another minute-long meditative piece in the vein of Gears 1′s “Mad World” spot that captured the hearts of so many. It’s got the same somber but pretty soundtrack, Marcus looking glum, minimal exposition, the works. Personally I think it’s a much better piece of advertisement than its predecessor, but the jury’s out on the larger consensus among gamers.
Now, the Gears of War franchise being something that’s very male, I wondered if maybe this ad would have enough artistic sway to win someone over who’s not exactly into big dudes with soul patches and chainsaw bayonets. Someone like my girlfriend. After all that’s what these ads are designed to do – make the game seem like something more sophisticated than dudes killin other dudes.
Hit the jump to watch the clip, and to hear what my better half has to say.
So here’s the ad:
My initial thought was “this isn’t going to work like ‘Mad World’ did for people who don’t know anything about the game” because people aren’t going to get that these guys are riding drills underground to go fight aliens. I thought it assumed a little too much and failed for that, even though I thought it was artistically and emotionally more powerful than “Mad World”.
So I showed it to my girlfriend. Her name is changed for anonymity’s sake:
(4:27:58 PM) Mary Beth: i found it quite appealing
(4:28:02 PM) Mary Beth: it was mysterious
(4:28:17 PM) Mary Beth: and i liked the intro
(4:28:25 PM) Mary Beth: personal touches and stuff
(4:28:56 PM) Mary Beth: the big guns weren’t as deterring as they could have been
(4:29:02 PM) Mary Beth: cause i really felt the sense of mission
Sounds like it worked the way it was made to. The personal and emotional qualities shone through and pulled her in even though she hates guns. But what about the aforementioned confusion about the drills and such?
(4:29:32 PM) Me: people were saying “nobody’s going to get this ad because they have no idea that they’re going underground to fight aliens”
(4:29:40 PM) Mary Beth: i figured that out
(4:29:46 PM) Me: uhh
(4:29:55 PM) Mary Beth: i mean, i saw the other things going underground
(4:29:58 PM) Mary Beth: and then they got in one
(4:30:07 PM) Me: but how did you figure there’d be aliens
(4:30:08 PM) Mary Beth: and they always fight aliens, don’t they?
(4:30:19 PM) Mary Beth: it looked weird down there
(4:30:23 PM) Mary Beth: aliens would make sense
Microsoft has a hell of an advertising team. They’re smart enough to know that maybe holding off on some exposition works, too. Because it’s always aliens. You can count on people to assume that.
